Salty Lemons

8 varieties of tomatoes from my 2011 archive

August 18, 2011

Variety

The last few weeks, I have been forced to minimize my time in Plot95. I had a severe allergic reaction from too many mosquito bites, particularly around my ankles. They swelled, similar to when you have an ankle injury or when you are in the last stages of pregnancy. I had to continuously ice my ankles for nearly a week before they went back to their normal size.

The other night, The Swede came home with several pounds of tomatoes (squeal). The harvest he brought home contained eight varieties. Most I can identify. The others are a mystery. We should know one from another since we marked each plant with a popsicle stick bearing the variety name. But in the process of weeding, some of them were pulled. Not sure how that happened. A weed looks nothing like a popsicle stick.

The tomatoes I can identify are Purple Cherokee Heirloom, Black Plum, Sugar Lump, Early Girl, Chadwick Cherry, Amish Paste, and possibly Arkansas Traveler. I cannot remember if the Arkansas Traveler seedling survived or not. The Purple Cherokee is my new obsession. It is a large variety that is prone to cracking along its shoulders. The interior is another story. It is smooth, very meaty with a few seeds along its outer rim, and has a gorgeous mix of purple, red, and green flesh. They are undoubtedly special, I can now understand why people are willing to pay $4 a pound for these tomatoes. They are well worth it.

archives: Garden